Furrowed Brows and Blue-Eyed Men
by ifonly-criedthewoodpecker
Summary: Emma knows more about the nursery in their living room than she lets on. (Based on spoilers and the promo for "The Brothers Jones")
_To make this very clear, this prompt was taken from tnlph's blog on Tumblr. I am not original. Anyways, onwards!_

 _-/-_

The fact that Killian had been restored to the dashing pirate with a sense of honor filled her with what could almost have been described as _glee_. Even though she knew that soon they would have to face Hades, god of the Underworld, and figure out some way to get all four of their names off of the headstones they'd been "blessed" with, the small victory at least gave her hope. Hope that allowed her hand to rest on her stomach for just a second as a future flashed on the back of her eyelids.

His face was free of blemishes, lacerations, and bruises of any sort, and he was free of the darkness.

He was _him_.

However, despite his freshly healed skin and freed figurative heart, he still seemed troubled. His eyes continued to glance around the room somewhat suspiciously, and he slumped in his chair. Along with that, he looked as tired as a man who'd been through hell -tired as the man that he _was,_ and she knew that he must have been worrying about the problem at hand. He would have never wanted her _or_ her family to be put into any dangerous situations for his sake, whether he deserved it or not.

He seemed to be considering what to say, as both of their eyes drifted back to the toys that were littered about the living room. She sub-consciously recognized that her hand was making its way back to her flat belly, and had almost reached it when Killian turned to her abruptly.

His mouth opened and closed a few times as his eyebrows furrowed, and right as he was about to address whatever it was that was causing anxiety to rip through him, the bell of their house -or the Underworld's version of it, at least- echoed throughout the room; promptly cutting him off.

They looked at each other -equally confused, seeing as the rest of the family had agreed to meet up at Granny's, leaving them on their own- and then made their way to the door.

After a quick glance at the doorknob, and a deep breath, Emma worked up the courage to open it, and standing there was a man that she did not recognize.

The sentiment seemed to go both ways as the curly-haired man standing on their porch eyed her suspiciously, but as he then glanced behind her at Killian he seemed to glow with the joy of finding what he wanted.

She turned to Killian to find him wearing the exact same look of shock and recognition, and, in a flash, the man and her pirate were in each other's arms.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Killian whispered, leaving her to make wild assumptions about who this man possibly could be.

 _Former crew mate? Father figure? Just a man that he'd taken kinship with?_

 _"_ Well," the other man said, "here I am." They both pulled back a bit to look into each other's eyes, which she then noticed matched, and he shook his head with a smile growing on his face.

"I can't believe that after all of these years, my little brother's finally here," he said, softly. And the smile remained, but grew sadder, and Emma's jaw dropped.

 _She wasn't particularly wrong with any of her guesses, she supposed…_

"However, I can't say that I'm particularly happy to see you," the man- _Liam, oh my god-_ continued. "Not with the knowledge that you've met your demise."

He took a moment to glance around the room, eyes landing on Emma for a moment and giving her the tiniest of smiles.

"Though, I must say, your life must not have been terribly awful if the large house, _lovely_ companion, and condition of your living room and kitchen says anything." He gestured somewhat exasperatedly at the toys that were absolutely _everywhere_ and the crib that rested in the middle of the living room, then throwing a goofy look back at his brother.

Killian smiled, but then his eyes dropped to the ground in consideration, and his eyebrows lowered once more.

"Liam, I can agree with you on the lovely partnership of Emma Swan alleviating my woes of the Earth, and maybe even on the house," he said, looking around, "but I can't say that I'm entirely certain about what the toys mean. I've never seen them before." He looked to Emma, perhaps hoping for an explanation, as her eyes drifted to the face of Liam, who was quite obviously disappointed.

"Actually," she jumped in, "these were some of the things that were in my nursery in the Enchanted Forest. They must simply represent another lost opportunity from before," she finished tightly, hoping to not give anything away just yet.

Liam's face continued to drop as he looked back at the toys and crib. "So, I suppose this means no nieces or nephews, huh?" he asked.

"Not today, Liam," Killian responded, and for a moment, her worries about making any big announcements to the man she loved subsided.

* * *

It was at the heart of the cave leading on to a better place that she told him.

He had run back to her with tears in his eyes, and she simply held him as Liam continued standing at the exit.

"Emma," he whispered, his voice wavering with emotion. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you, " she said back, without any hesitation, caressing the back of his head.

And, after a moment of emotionally cradling each other, completely unaware of anything else, he piped up again.

"Emma, if those toys and that crib were really only about your lost childhood, why would they have appeared in our home, rather than in that of your parents?" he asked, eyes searching hers.

And she smiled for a moment at the question, her hand drifting away from his head to her stomach as her eyes remained on him.

"Well, I may have lied a little bit," she said, as his eyes grew wider by the second. "Although all of those things _were_ from my nursery, and most-likely did represent my lost childhood, there was more than one reason for me coming to get you."

His eyebrows shot up.

"And one of those reasons may have been the child in my stomach not wanting to grow up without their dad." She smiled at him with nerves making themselves known in both the butterflies in her stomach and the spots in her eyes, but she didn't need to worry about falling.

His arms were around her in a second, and although she could feel the worry and fear coming off of him in waves, she could also feel the smile buried in her hair, and the excitement in his voice.

"I'm going to be a father?" he asked, his voice not lacking any amount of awe.

"Yes, Killian. You are"

His smile only grew, while her nervousness decreased by the second, and they held each other again until they were softly interrupted.

"So I guess this means I _am_ going to be an uncle?" the almost forgotten Liam chirped in from behind them.

They finally let go of each other as Killian turned to face his brother, the joy on his face nearly _destroying_ her now that she could see it.

"Yeah, brother, I guess you are," he replied.

Liam smirked triumphantly as he straightened himself. "Thank the gods," he muttered, "now I can _finally_ rest in peace."

His smile softened as he looked between the two, or three, she supposed, when she saw the look he sent to her not yet developed belly.

"You all take care of each other, alright?" he said, as he winked at his brother. "It's not often you find Heaven on Earth."

And, with his words of brotherly wisdom and final acceptance, he turned to the light, being drawn into a world seemingly filled to the brim with waves, wind, and the smell of salt.

She turned to Killian, who had a single tear rolling down his cheek, but it was a tear born from joy, and she appreciated that.

She kissed him on the cheek with one hand on her stomach and the other on his waist, and thought about their future, for they _would_ have a future. She'd make sure of that.

And though they might not have gotten along during a large potrion of their time together, she had to say, for the possibility of a baby boy with bright blue eyes and a charming smirk, _Liam was quite a nice name._


End file.
